Front court key to CU's continued success

Buffs host Cougars tonight

BOULDER -- Senior point guard Chucky Jeffery is, without question, the best player on the Colorado women's basketball team.

As good as Jeffery has been, however, the key to the success of the 21st-ranked Buffaloes (20-5, 9-5 Pac-12) just might be the front-court foursome of Rachel Hargis, Jen Reese, Arielle Roberson and Jamee Swan.

"If we don't get anything from those four, not just offensively but defensively, we're not a very good basketball team," said CU assistant Jonas Chatterton, who coaches the front court players. "Those four need to come ready to play every night."

Lately, they have been.

Sunday's 71-63 win at Arizona State was arguably the best game that group has played together all season. In that game, the 6-foot-2 Reese scored a career-high 22 points, the 6-1 Roberson scored 16 and Swan, a 6-2 freshman, scored nine points off the bench. Meanwhile, the 6-4 Hargis was her usual nasty self on defense, with a pair of steals, seven rebounds and throwing in five points.

Seeing that group play well together is starting to become normal. Most, if not all, of them have played well in each of CU's last five games -- all victories. They'll need to continue their strong play when the Buffs host Washington State (10-15, 6-8) today.

"We were doing that at the beginning of the season and we knew we wanted to get back to that," Hargis said. "We stepped up to the challenge."

Hargis is the defensive force of the group.

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She averages just 4.8 points, but is the only Buff to start all 25 games this season. That's because she leads the team with 27 blocked shots (and countless re-directed shots) and flexes her muscles against the top centers and forwards around the Pac-12.

"Rachel is a huge part of what we do as a team," Chatterton said. "That's why she is starting. Defensively at times, she's a clinic. I mean, she's really good. She runs our whole defense. Rachel brings, for our whole team, toughness. If she doesn't bring it, we're not that good."

Hargis' toughness stems from the fact that she understands CU's defense-first philosophy.

"I definitely try to bring my toughness every game and start off with that," she said. "When (the rest of the Buffs) see that, they become more aggressive. When everybody gets that mentality, it really just helps the defense pick up."

Reese said Hargis' toughness has helped her, Roberson and Swan get tougher, too. But, the Buffs aren't just tough on defense. One of the keys to their resurgence in recent games is their scoring punch on offense.

"We're being more aggressive in wanting the ball and calling for it," Reese said.

At least one of the four has scored in double figures in each of the last five games. During the recent five-game stretch, the front-court foursome has averaged 32.2 points per game. In the nine games before that, they averaged 22.3.

"Experience has a lot to do with that," Reese said.

The group is young -- Hargis is a junior, Reese a sophomore and Roberson and Swan are freshmen -- but they have been getting big minutes all season.

It also helped the group to go through the mid-season gauntlet of facing No. 4 Stanford twice, No. 6 California twice and No. 17 UCLA once. The group sometimes struggled through that stretch of games, but they got better through it.

"I think we played some tougher competition and we just kind of got out of the flow of what we've been doing," Hargis said of the mid-season struggles of the front court. "Now we know that even when we do play tougher competition or different defenses, we still need to be looking inside no matter what."

With a tougher mentality and increased level of confidence, the front court players could be the key to the Buffs' success as they head to the postseason in a couple of weeks.

"They've really been a good base and foundation for our team this year," Chatterton said. "It's absolutely critical (they play well)."

Notable

Sophomore guard Lexy Kresl, who separated her shoulder Sunday, remains day-to-day. Head coach Linda Lappe said Kresl has improved every day and she won't rule out Kresl playing Friday vs. WSU or Sunday against Washington. ... Senior captain Meagan Malcolm-Peck, who has missed the past five games with a shoulder injury, practiced at full strength this week and is ready to play again. ... On Sunday, CU is celebrating National Girls and Women in Sports Day. There will be a free fitness and skills clinic for kids ages 13 and under from noon-1 p.m. at the Coors Events Center. Anyone who participates in the clinic, and adults who brings kids to the clinic, get free admission to the Buffs' game against Washington, which starts at 2 p.m.

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